To Answer One Question with Another
by TurtleTracer
Summary: For the Guardians sometimes it's impossible to keep little Groot out of trouble, or even out of enemy hands.


**Enjoy! And be aware that Groot does not refer to Rocket as dad in this story because it's cute. He does it because that is actually the term that he uses for Rocket in Infinity War, so I shall adhere to that.**

To Answer One Question with Another

"And- and then, you stabbed them in the chest! A whole line of dumbasses, just lined up in a row like take-out food, and you stabbed all of them in the chest!" this explanation is wheezed out of Groot's hysterically laughing dad. Whose laugh was too loud in his opinion, but he bounces his bottom up and down upon the rodent's shoulder anyways, in tree silent happiness.

If his dad was happy, than Groot was ecstatic!

"C'mon man, don't tell him stories like that, he's going to grow up weird," Peter says with an overdramatic wrinkle to his face, and an overdramatic outswing of his arm.

Dad snorts, "He's being raised by us idiot, he's already doomed."

"Peter is right Rocket, we should tell Groot more happy stories," says Gamora.

"Yes, I know of one," says Drax.

"Oh really _the Destroyer_? You know a happy story? Here let me guess the ending. Does someone get destroyed?" asks dad.

"Yes, it is Thanos."

"He doesn't even know who that is!" dad shouts, his voice betraying a squeak.

"It is a happy story."

"Uh, Drax…" Peter tries.

"His head explodes into many meat pieces."

Peter gives up.

Groot grabs fistfuls of wiry hair to steady himself as his dad continues walking, and saying things. They say so many things. They make it very hard to pay attention. So many words.

He usually just smiles at them, since then they'll never find out that he isn't always the best listener. Groot turns his head around and smiles at Gamora and Peter, who are walking behind Drax and his dad. The two look down at him and smile back, Peter even waves!

Hehe, suckers, they never have to know. Groot turns back around to giggle mischievously into his stick hands.

"See he's laughing, told you he likes the stories of Marvin, the idiot with tasers for hands," his dad says.

"Dude, what is with you and tasers lately?" mumbles Peter.

Oops, looks like he wasn't paying attention again. Though his Dad was right he did like stories about Marvin the taser man, because he always dies really funnily at the end.

Hmmmmmm. Wait a second.

"I am Groot?"

"A taser is a weapon that emits an electric shock, usually to stun your target," his dad says, answering his question.

All of them kept walking, his family kept talking. It was the usual. They were on a peaceful planet of green and yellow hills, the greens being grass, and the yellows being more grass. The air was clean here, and the sun beat down pleasantly. It had taken many promises of games they'd play with him later to convince Groot to leave the rolling hills and join them as they went into town.

They couldn't however, convince Mantis to join them. She rolled her body around on the hills, her antennas feeling and poking the ground independently as she belly spun. So his family let her stay with the ship.

It wasn't fair that she got to stay, but dad said he'd probably release more prisoners if he was left alone again. Groot didn't really know what his dad was talking about, they had no prisoners, unless Mantis was one and he hadn't been paying attention enough to notice.

Well either way they were here for stuff, Groot knew that much. Besides walking and talking, it was another thing that his family did a lot, interact with stuff. So he knows that they really need more stuff. Besides, the town was fun too. It was big, almost a city, and had buildings painted bright pastel hues. Signs that read _hotel_ and _restaurant_ were everywhere. Though they didn't get to go in one because Peter said that the colors _'hurt his manly pride,'_ Groot didn't get it, he liked the bright colors. There were no higher intelligent Natives on this Planet, the land never had a chance to develop such creatures before it was bought out by some really important person and used as a popular starship rest stop.

But that's just it, rest. Other than those who live here no being was allowed to stay on this planet for more than three nights, before having to set off again.

It was how they kept their population small.

So all in all Groot liked it here, it was a fun world. So fun in fact that Groot wanted to walk!

Groot began kicking his wooden feet into his dad's shoulder, wiggling his bits around in his silent demand to be put down.

"Alright sheesh, use your words you little terror," his dad grumbles, but he removes Groot from his shoulder and places him down anyways.

This was more like it!

With a high pitched _'Ieeee,'_ Groot decides to do some laps around his family. Torpedoing his arms around and picking up speed.

He was getting so fast!

His family laughs and smiles at him as he runs, probably because they like how fast he is going.

Everything was so fun!

….Twenty minutes later, and things weren't so fun. His family was busy talking to a greasy overall wearing guy with yellow skin and shiny eyes, he was a… a… an Aakon. Yeah that's it, his dad has been teaching him the different species. They were in a shop with whole lots of different mechanical parts. Engines hung on the ceiling by chains, and tools were draped like decorations across the walls. Groot has been in shops like this before with his dad, but admittedly this was the first one that had its walls painted in pastel purples.

Dad said it grossed him out.

But just like all the other mechanical shops like this one, it smelled. Normally that didn't bother Groot. He was used to all kinds of smells, including the sweaty odors of his family that constantly filtered through his bark. But this time there was fresh grass and soil, the smells of life, and it was right outside this store!

Groot wonders for a moment if the old him would have cared about the smell outside, or if he was more like his dad and liked to be in greasy places. Groot knew he wasn't the first Groot. His family never hid that from him. But sometimes he thought that his dad probably liked the old Groot better, he bet it was because new Groot thought this place was stinky.

Groot frowned and gazed outside longingly. He looked back at his family, all of whom were still talking to the greasy Aakon. Except for Drax, who was busy punching the rubber of a very bouncy tire, then smiling when he would punch hard enough to send his fist sailing back towards his face. He responded with a smug little, _"It didn't hurt,"_ every time he hit himself.

All of his family was busy, and the hills really were right outside. Groot stood tree-rod straight, and took one mini giant sidestep towards the exit. Then he took another, and another.

Ooooh this was bad he knew, his dad would be worried, but it would be right outside. And he knew that if he could take on that scary man on that big dirty ship, than he could take on anyone who saw him. He was super tough now. He didn't need to stay by his family all the time.

Eight more sideway steps and he was out. There was no door to the shop, just a metal bit that slide down from the roof of the shop when it was time to close. So there was nothing in Groot's way to stop him from simply, walking out.

Those hills were his! Groot ran, away from the grease and the rubber, and towards the light and the grass. It soaked into his bark in a way that must be smell, giving him energy and life. So much life. He began to grow little sprouts about his being, on his head and arms. Sprouts of life! That he will put in the soil of these grassy hills and make them happy.

Groot closes his eyes, feeling the sunshine.

Then hits against a large piece of leather, his tiny body bounces off the leather whatever, and he lands on the ground silently. Groot looks up.

And up.

And up.

It's a person, a huge huge person! Bigger than Drax. Most of the big man was hidden in a thick black cloak, but the rest of him was looking down at Groot. So only the little tree could see his full profile, the man's features were hidden from the passerby's.

He was purple, not pastel purple, but it was a lighter shade. He clearly had a very bald head and a weird square like chin, with lines running up and down and side by side each other across the chin's length. His eyes were too small for Groot to make out a pupil beneath the shadow that the cloak provided, but Groot could feel them looking at him anyways.

Groot didn't like this man, and that wasn't nice. He didn't even know this man's species. He shouldn't dislike anyone he doesn't know first. But the vines inside him shiver in fear, and the buds about his body retreat back into his form.

He's scared, but that isn't nice so…

"I-I am Groot," He says, being nice.

The man shifts around, and Groot has to scoot himself backwards on his butt to keep the man's enormous feet from touching him.

So big, he's just so big.

The man breaths in deeply, his head tilting up as he puts full focus into the action, "Gamoraaaaa," He whispers.

 _'_ _Gamora?'_ Groot thinks to himself, his fear dissipating a little at the sound of his family's name.

The man was fast. In a moment the man bent down and snatched Groot from the ground, dangling him in front of his face by his captured arm. The man grabbed him so fast that the momentum of Groot stopping in front of the man's face threw the rest of his body sideways, forcing his body to ram into the side of the man's meaty hand.

The fear was back.

"A Floral Colossus, interesting companionship Gamora," The man whispers, rubbing one finger of his other hand up and down Groot's tree belly.

Groot gives a harsh cry of _"I am Groot!"_ and forms the fingers of his free hand into a sort-of-kind-of dagger like point.

The man's other hand covers his whole body. Not just his head, or his middle bits, one hand, covers his entire body.

"Stop," the man demands, he squeezes his hand just a little to display his threat. His hand covers the world, turning everything dark.

Forget vine shaking fear, his very bark screamed at him in terror. This man was too much, too much for him. He couldn't, he can't.

Dad. Peter. Gamora. Drax. Dad. Dad. DAD!

With a hiccupped sob of terror, Groot stops. His hand has fingers again, and he curls the limb into his chest, wishing he could curl all of himself into his old plant pot. The man took back the hand covering his body and nods his approval giving Groot a soft "Good," for his submission.

The man lets go of Groot's arm. Groot squeaks as he is released, but he doesn't fall far before the man has him again, this time only by his hand. His hand is being held only by the man's thumb and pointer finger. Groot whines, groping at his trapped hand in blind terror, not understanding what's happening and why. His smooth fingers mean nothing as they claw against the man's huge digits. So the man ignores them.

"You know, I've always wondered if her opinion on this matter had changed. After all it is important. It's one of the things that people on every world eventually kill. You," the man taps his finger against Groot's cheek, causing the sapling to swat at the appendage. "Are something that every world eventually kills."

The man shifts the two fingers holding Groot's hand, forcing his fingers to splay and maneuver to the bigger man's wishes. It ends with only Groot's pointer finger sticking out from above the man's thumb, while the rest of him is lowered so that Groot is looking at the man's chin, with his finger is at the man's eye level.

"Now, tell me little one. What is Gamora's favorite flower?"

Flower? It was so random, so ummm, contradictory. Flowers were good, Groot liked flowers, yet he was still so afraid.

"I am Groot?" he asks.

The man's fingers squeeze, Groot's fingers snap underneath. Groot's eyes widen at the noise. He lets out a tiny gasp, not understanding why this just happened. He hangs there limply, staring at his covered hand in shock.

"I don't ask things twice _Floral Colossus_ ," The man says.

Groot tugs his lips into a line, his eyes glistening with fresh water. It is a trait that his old self didn't possess, a trait he learned by growing up with his tear capable family.

His family. Gamora. This man wanted Gamora. Well he wanted Gamora too. He wanted her, and dad, and her. But this man didn't want all of Gamora, he wanted a flower. Just one dumb flower! But he didn't know what Gamora's favorite flower was. Gamora never said that to him before, not ever!

…Unless she did, and he wasn't paying attention. This is all his fault. He should know, he doesn't know.

…But he does know Gamora, he knows that she likes stuff. She likes her hair to be shaded, lighter on bottom like a sunset. He heard her try to talk Mantis into doing that with her hair once before. She likes the color black, and sharp knives that she scolded him once for touching for some reason. He knows that she likes him, and dad, and Drax, and mantis, and Peter. She really likes Peter. She touches him all the time, especially now that they're away from the exploding planet. And Gamora smiles when he's happy.

That's her favorite thing really, for everyone to be happy.

Thinking of this Groot closes his eyes and begins to grow. From the very tip of his last unbroken finger a sprout appears. It un-slouches itself and straightens its green thorn covered stem right before the man's tiny eyes. The flower bulbs, then blooms. It blooms something smooth and dark. It was a black flower, with red the color of Quill's jacket bleeding at the tips of its eight clustered petals. The dark petals reflect the sunlight above, its darkened texture, and Groot included du, creates an illusion of a rainbowed ring that wraps around the middle of the petals. Each petal looks smooth, silky, and perfect.

"Hmmmmmm," the man rumbles from deep within his chest, "She has changed. It used to be green."

Groot closes his eyes, afraid to speak.

"GROOT!"

Groot's eyes snap open. He lets out a whine, wanting to scream. The man still has him, so he settles for wiggling. His small body rocks back and forth as he panics.

It was dad.

The man ignores his movement, and waits. He waits until Groot can see his dad. Not that Groot saw him first, his dad was so tiny, and the rest of his family was so big. He definitely saw Drax first. But either way all of them run around the bend of a building, together in a single cluster of his favorite people. They saw him, dangling in this huge man's hand. Yes, they saw him!

"Hey big-ass!"

"Put him down!"

"Release my friend!"

"I'm blasting his fucking face off!"

It took only one quick flick of his fingers, and the man snapped Groot's wrist from the rest of his body. Groot hadn't been prepared to lose the limb, hadn't had time to move all of his vines from the area. So it hurt, and he fell. He lands hard on the dirt floor of the town. There was air movement to his side as the man jumps away. His dad and Peter start shooting. Drax threw one of his knives. Gamora picked Groot up, cradling his shivering frame to her chest.

None of their shots hit, and Drax never got back his knife.

"Who the hell was that?" his dad asks keeping his gun trained on the sky.

"Dunno, couldn't see him behind that ugly cloak," Peter answers.

"I am G-groot," Groot whines. His dad turns around immediately, ears lifting from his head as he listens.

"What's wrong buddy?" his dad took him from Gramora's unresisting arms and held his stubbed wrist gently in his paw. "Why are you upset? It's just a hand, to you that's nothing. It will grow back you know. No reason to be scared."

Groot hiccups and buries his face into his dad's neck fur.

"Hey show some compassion man, he's just a baby," Peter says, putting away his gun.

"Yeah," his dad sighs loudly, sounding sad. He was sad to.

"I have never seen him in such distress," Drax observes, "He is usual very stoic."

"Alright bud, who was that?"

Groot didn't know, but he did know one thing. He lifts his moisture soaked face, and points a tiny finger of his remaining hand at Gamora. Gamora raises an eyebrow in confusion, "Me," She says pointing to herself to make sure she got it right.

Groot nods.

His dad snorts above him, "Ok so we know it wasn't Gamora. But whoever it was we'll talk about, and possible kill, later. For right now someone doesn't know how to stay inside a store, so we're going back to the ship."

"I'll go with you, let's be honest I won't be any help in carrying the centrifugal compressor back to the ship," Peter says.

Gamora touches Peter's red jacket, "Drax and I can handle it, go on."

They go. Groot looks back over his dad's shoulder as they leave. He sees Gamora wrap her arms over her belly, like she's a little cold but still doesn't want to bend her spine because she doesn't like to do that. Drax is by her, talking to her about Drax stuff.

Groot watches Gamora look off at where the man was last seen jumping off a roof, and he wonders if she understood, and if she's scared to.


End file.
